In a move foreshadowing the changes that may reshape higher education in coming years, Texas A&M University officials announced on Thursday that the school will save $15 million a year by cutting more than 100 tenured faculty members from its ranks.

The move will give academic departments more flexibility in dealing with looming budget cuts, said Antonio Cepeda-Benito, dean of faculties and associate provost at A&M.

"By and large, it reduced the impact of the cuts we're expecting," he said.

But the ultimate savings may vary, because Cepeda-Benito said at least some of the faculty members who are leaving will be replaced, albeit at lower salaries.

Some departments will rehire non-tenure-track teachers who were told earlier this year that their contracts would not be renewed, while others may hire new tenure-track faculty, he said.

Both options should keep class sizes from rising too sharply, he said.

In all, 104 faculty members accepted the agreement, which calls for them to leave by next fall. They will receive between nine and 18 months pay in exchange, Cepeda-Benito said.

UT spokesman Don Hale said in an e-mail that 31 faculty members have agreed to leave so far. All but four are from the College of Liberal Arts, which expects to save $2.4 million a year, he said.

The buyout programs are among dozens of cost-cutting initiatives at public colleges and universities across the state.

Public universities, along with other state agencies, have been ordered to return 7.5 percent of state funding for the current two-year budget cycle. An additional 10 percent cut was requested for fiscal years 2012 and 2013.

And with the state facing a budget shortfall of $20 billion or more, that may go up.

Slashing right and left

Universities have responded with furloughs and layoffs, as well as by slashing everything from office supplies to travel budgets. Recommendations from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, if approved by the Legislature, could promote more dramatic changes, requiring faculty members to spend more time in the classroom and schools to compete for some state funding based on graduation rates and other criteria.

Cutting the most senior tenured faculty — generally those with the highest salaries - is a quick way to reduce payroll, although Cepeda-Benito said the savings won't continue forever because those who took the deal would have retired eventually anyway.

Only faculty who have been tenured and at their current rank for at least 15 years were eligible, Cepeda-Benito said.

The percentage of faculty with tenure or tenure-track jobs has been declining nationally for years, but it remains a key tenet of academia.

While tenure doesn't guarantee a job for life, it does require that certain procedures be followed before someone is fired, intended to ensure that faculty members don't lose their jobs for pursuing unpopular ideas.

Tenured faculty generally earn higher salaries, and often teach fewer classes, than non-tenured faculty. But they are also expected to conduct research and offer service to the university by serving on committees and other duties, which instructors without tenure aren't.

A bittersweet decision

Doug Slack, a professor of wildlife and fisheries sciences at A&M, said the offer was a good deal, even if leaving a job he has held for 38 years is a little bittersweet.

"I really love to teach," said Slack, who turns 68 later this month. "I love my research. It's going to be a new life for myself and, to a certain extent, my wife."

A former speaker of the Faculty Senate and a member of the Athletic Council, which oversees the academic side of intercollegiate athletics, Slack has been involved in many aspects of campus life.

But he said he was planning to retire at the end of 2011 anyway. Instead, he will leave in August and receive a year's pay.

"From a monetary standpoint, it was a good deal," he said. "It is a difficult decision to make. But I've done this long enough and I need to do other things."